SIMPLIFIED REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Agency of Human Services, Department for Children and Families
Title: Hearing Officer for Woodside 8 Day Hearings
Date: January 24, 2013
Requisition Number: TBD03440-13FSD0124
1BACKGROUND AND SCOPE: The Vermont Department for Children and Families,Family ServicesDivision (hereinafter called DCF) is seeking to establish a service agreement with one entity that can provide a Hearing Officer to preside over the Due Process Reviews for youthplaced administratively at WoodsideJuvenileRehabilitationCenter (Woodside).
All youth who are placed at Woodside administratively are entitled to the protection of their due process rights; the process by which this occurs is that all youth who are placed beyond the eighth day are entitled to a hearing to determine if the due process rights of the youth placed in Woodside are protected. The 8 Day Hearing process determines if youth placed, administratively, meet the State’s criteria for continued placement at Woodside beyond their eighth day of administrative placement.The source of funding is from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (JABG) Award administered byDCF. The goal envisioned by Congress for JABG funds is to reduce juvenile offending through supporting accountability-based programs that focus on offenders and state and local juvenile justice systems.
The Contractor will have strong facilitation skills, a background in juvenile justice, the ability to communicate effectively, strong verbal and written skills and the ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment. The Contractor will conduct administrativedue process reviews to determine whether or not the youth will stay at Woodside beyond their eighth day of administrative placementand what the date of discharge will be from Woodside. The work will take place 2 days a week for 10 – 15 hours and the Contractor would need to assure coverage for all hearings.For its part, Contractor agrees to implement, in conjunction with DCF and/or Woodside staff, all or part of the following Service Area activities:
Service Delivery & Activities: Contractor agrees to work under the supervision of the assigned DCFstaff member to provide the following deliverables:
1.1.Eight-Day Timeframe: The eight day time frame includes weekends and holidays. Any portion of a day confined is considered a day, therefore a youth admitted at any time on any day of the week will be considered to have achieved their eighth day on that same day the following week. For example, a youth admitted on a Wednesday will reach their eighth day the following Wednesday. In instances in which placement authorization shifts from the court to DCF (Inflexible court order changes to a flexible court order or Administrative placement) the “8 day clock” begins the day of transfer of authorization, not the day of admission.
1.2.Eligibility: In order for a youth to be eligible to remain at Woodside beyond eight days, at the discretion of the State, a hearing must be held on or before the eighth day to determine such eligibility, thus satisfying the Due Process Rights of the individual established by the agreement between DCF and the Juvenile Defender’s Office (JDO) in the mid 1980’s. This agreement has been modified several times over the years by mutual agreement between the JDO and DCF, and in all likelihood will change again in the future.
1.3.Woodside 8 Day Hearing Procedure: Work within the guidance of the document named, ‘Woodside 8 Day Hearing Procedure,’ which includes the Woodside Screening Instrument.
1.4.DCFState Policies: Work within the DCF State Policies, including #172, Woodside Short Term Program: Protecting Due Process Rights. Policy 172 can be found at:
1.4.1.Criteria for Continued Placement;
1.4.2.Right to Internal Due Process Review;
1.4.3.Notification of Review;
1.4.4.Conduct of the Internal Due Process Review – based on the information presentedContractor will determine whether or not the youth will stay in Woodside; and the date of discharge. At the sole discretion of Contractor, the review may be commenced and then continued for up to three days in order for the Contractor to make a final decision.;
1.4.5.Further Internal Review;
1.4.6.Placement Beyond Sixty Days.
2SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: The expected timetable is set forth below.
RFP Posted / January 24, 2013Bidder’s Questions Due / February 6, 2013
Dept Response to Bidder’s Questions Posted After / February 8, 2013
Proposal Due / February 20, 2013
Selection Notification of Apparently Successful Bidder / March 4, 2013
Commencement of Contract / April 1, 2013
3CONTRACT PERIOD: Contract(s) arising from this request for proposal will be for a period oftwelve (12) months with an option to renew for additional two – twelve (12) month periods. Proposed start date will be April 1, 2013.
4SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT: All communications concerning this Request for Proposal (RFP) are to be addressed by email to the attention of: Cassie Isabelle at , whowill be the sole contact for this proposal. Attempts by bidders to contact any other party could result in the rejection of their proposal.
5QUESTION and ANSWER PERIOD: Any bidder requiring clarification of any section of this proposal must submit specific questions by email no later than 4:00 PM,February 6, 2013. Questions must be e-mailed to the Single Point of Contact inSection 4of this proposal. Any question not raised in writing on or before the last day of the initial question period is waived. Responses to any Question sent will be posted to the Electronic Bulletin Board website after February 8, 2013.
6COSTS OF PREPARATION: The bidder shall be solely responsible for all expenses incurred in the preparation of a response to this RFP and shall be responsible for all expenses associated with any presentation or demonstrations associated with this request and or proposals made. The bidder shall also be solely responsible for the cost preparing responses to scope of work requests submitted by departments over the course of the contract.
7Rejection Rights
DCF may, at any time and at its sole discretion and without penalty, reject any and all proposals in any ‘catchment’ area and issue no contract in that area as a result of this RFP. Further more a proposal may be rejected for one or more of the following reasons or for any other reason deemed to be in the best interest of the State:
7.1.The failure of the bidder to adhere to one or more provisions established in this RFP.
7.2.The failure of the bidder to submit required information in the format specified in this RFP.
7.3.The failure of the bidder to adhere to generally accepted ethical and professional principles during the RFP process.
8PUBLIC RECORD DISCLOSURE:
8.1.All proposals shall become the property of the State.
8.2.All public records of DCF are available for disclosure, except for RFPs prior to the release to potential bidders; and proposals and bids received in response to the RFP, until the Contractor and DCF have executed the contract. At that time, the unsuccessful bidders may request a copy of their own score sheets as well as request to view the successful bidder’s proposal at DCF Central Office.
8.3.DCF will not disclose RFP records until execution of the contract(s). At that time, all information about the competitive procurement is disclosed except those portions specifically marked by the bidder as falling within one of the exceptions of 1, V.S.A., Ch. 5 Sec. 317.
9AUTHORITY TO BIND DCF:The Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of DCF (in parent AHS Secretary or Deputy Secretary) are the only persons who may legally commit DCF to any contract agreements. The Contractor shall not incur, and DCF shall not pay, any costs incurred before a contract is fully executed.
10PROPOSAL FORMAT: Use standard 8.5" x 11" document, single-spaced and use not less than a twelve point font.Write the program proposal in the order given in the scoring criteria chart in section 14(Quality of Bidder Experience, Bidder’s Information, and Program Costs). Address the proposal specifications in the same manner as the program specifications, title and number each item in the same way it appears in the scoring criteria.
11PROPOSAL REVIEW: Each of the proposals will have a Review Team of knowledgeable individuals to evaluate proposals. The team members will be from WoodsideJuvenileRehabilitationCenter and the central office of DCF. The Revenue Enhancement Unit shall review all proposals for compliance with RFP procedural instructions. If the procedural instructions are not followed, the proposal shall be considered non-responsive. Non-responsive proposals will be eliminated from further evaluation.
12DELIVERY of PROPOSALS:Your proposal, with all components, must be emailed to: no later than 4:00 PMFebruary 20, 2013. Late responses shall not be accepted and shall automatically be disqualified from further consideration. The email delivery shall be at your sole risk to assure delivery. DCF does not take responsibility for any problems in email delivery, either within or outside DCF. Receipt by any other email is not equivalent to receipt by DCF.
13PROPOSAL SCORING: The proposal must include the responses to the outline from section 14, Criteria for Scoring. Proposals will be scored by individual team members. Scoring is intended to clarify strengths and weaknesses of proposals relative to one another and to provide guidance to decision-makers. The sum of the scores of the members will become the proposal’s final score.
14
14. CRITERIA FOR SCORING / Total possible points1 Information from the BIDDER
A. Quality of Bidder’s Experience / 100
- Provide a brief description of the bidder’s experience with the performance of the role of Hearing Officer or in providing legal or other juvenile justice services to youth/families in a juvenile justice setting or with youth under 18 years of age.
- Describe the bidder’s experience with DCF, youth placement options and the WoodsideJuvenileRehabilitativeCenter to be served by this proposal. If not currently operating in a DCF district, describe bidder’s experience with the local child serving agency. Please provide data on bidder performance on same or similar contracts, grants and collaborative activities.
- Provide a description of your education and training and how this prepares you for the Hearing Officer position.
- Provide a brief description of the bidder’s experience in facilitating meetings, which can at times be adversarial in nature.
- Provide an adequate budget which establishes the bidder can provide services for all hearings at a reasonable rate.
20
20
15
20
10
B. Bidder’s Information / 25
- Provide by email a complete Contract Proposal no later than the due date.
- Provide a completed Vendor Packet: Vendor Information Sheet and Insurance Requirement.
- Provide a completed, signed & scanned W9.
5. Certificate of Insurance – provide current certificate of insurance which may or may not meet the minimum requirements laid out in section II, Attachment C, #7, of this document.
6. Any questions a bidder may have concerning the necessary insurance coverage must be raised during the question and answer period set out in section #5above. In the absence of a question, and upon contract negotiations the apparently successful bidder must provide a certificate of insurance that meets the minimum coverage specified in section II, Attachment C, #7, of this document.
B. Program Cost / 25
- In narrative form explain how hourly rate is determined to include all expenses.
OVERALL TOTAL SCORE / 150
15.SELECTION of the APPARENTLY SUCCESSFUL BIDDER
The Review Team will evaluate the proposals based on responsiveness to RFP key points and forward the completed scoring tools as well as copies of the proposals to theDeputy Commissioner of the Family Services Division or his/her designee for final review and determination of the Apparently Successful Bidder.
16.NOTIFICATION of AWARD
DCF will notify all bidders by email of selection of the Apparently Successful Bidder(s). DCF will notify all bidders when the contract(s) resulting from this RFP are signed.
IISTATE AND AGENCY CUSTOMARY CONTRACTING PROVSIONS:
ATTACHMENT C
CUSTOMARY PROVISIONS FOR CONTRACTS AND GRANTS
1. Entire Agreement. This Agreement, whether in the form of a Contract, State Funded Grant, or Federally Funded Grant, represents the entire agreement between the parties on the subject matter. All prior agreements, representations, statements, negotiations, and understandings shall have no effect.
2. Applicable Law. This Agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of Vermont.
3. Definitions:For purposes of this Attachment, “Party” shall mean the Contractor, Grantee or Subrecipient, with whom the State of Vermont is executing this Agreement and consistent with the form of the Agreement.
4. Appropriations: If appropriations are insufficient to support this Agreement, the State may cancel on a date agreed to by the parties or upon the expiration or reduction of existing appropriation authority. In the case that this Agreement is funded in whole or in part by federal or other non-State funds, and in the event those funds become unavailable or reduced, the State may suspend or cancel this Agreement immediately, and the State shall have no obligation to fund this Agreement from State revenues.
5. No Employee Benefits For Party: The Party understands that the State will not provide any individual retirement benefits, group life insurance, group health and dental insurance, vacation or sick leave, workers compensation or other benefits or services available to State employees, nor will the state withhold any state or federal taxes except as required under applicable tax laws, which shall be determined in advance of execution of the Agreement. The Party understands that all tax returns required by the Internal Revenue Code and the State of Vermont, including but not limited to income, withholding, sales and use, and rooms and meals, must be filed by the Party, and information as to Agreement income will be provided by the State of Vermont to the Internal Revenue Service and the Vermont Department of Taxes.
6. Independence, Liability: The Party will act in an independent capacity and not as officers or employees of the State.
The Party shall defend the State and its officers and employees against all claims or suits arising in whole or in part from any act or omission of the Party or of any agent of the Party. The State shall notify the Party in the event of any such claim or suit, and the Party shall immediately retain counsel and otherwise provide a complete defense against the entire claim or suit. The Party shall notify its insurance company and the State within 10 days of receiving any claim for damages, notice of claims, pre-claims, or service of judgments or claims, for any act or omissions in the performance of this Agreement.
After a final judgment or settlement the Party may request recoupment of specific defense costs and may file suit in Washington Superior Court requesting recoupment. The Party shall be entitled to recoup costs only upon a showing that such costs were entirely unrelated to the defense of any claim arising from an act or omission of the Party.
The Party shall indemnify the State and its officers and employees in the event that the State, its officers or employees become legally obligated to pay any damages or losses arising from any act or omission of the Party.
7. Insurance: Before commencing work on this Agreement the Party must provide certificates of insurance to show that the following minimum coverage is in effect. It is the responsibility of the Party to maintain current certificates of insurance on file with the state through the term of the Agreement. No warranty is made that the coverage and limits listed herein are adequate to cover and protect the interests of the Party for the Party’s operations. These are solely minimums that have been established to protect the interests of the State.
Workers Compensation: With respect to all operations performed, the Party shall carry workers’ compensation insurance in accordance with the laws of the State of Vermont.
General Liability and Property Damage: With respect to all operations performed under the Agreement, the Party shall carry general liability insurance having all major divisions of coverage including, but not limited to:
Premises - Operations
Products and Completed Operations
Personal Injury Liability
Contractual Liability
The policy shall be on an occurrence form and limits shall not be less than:
$1,000,000 Per Occurrence
$1,000,000 General Aggregate
$1,000,000 Products/Completed Operations Aggregate
$ 50,000 Fire/ Legal/Liability
Party shall name the State of Vermont and its officers and employees as additional insureds for liability arising out of this Agreement.
Automotive Liability: The Party shall carry automotive liability insurance covering all motor vehicles, including hired and non-owned coverage, used in connection with the Agreement. Limits of coverage shall not be less than: $1,000,000 combined single limit.